Hailing from Rawalpindi, Massab Shaukat happens to be the youngest marketing professional who at the age of 18, is the CEO of Fast Giveaways Official. Having over 24000 clients and known for earning more than 500,000 USD at a tender age, Massab also acts as a PR, helping business industries find clients and grow successful. Daily Times caught up with the young and enthusiastic boy to ask him a few questions. How did you develop an understanding of marketing at such a young age? Is your family in the field or is it an entirely individual effort? Marketing can be viewed as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering, and communicating value to customers along-with managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its shareholders. It is the science of choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer buying behaviour and providing superior customer value. The set of engagements necessary for successful marketing management include capturing marketing insights, connecting with customers, building strong brands, shaping the market offerings, delivering and communicating value, creating long-term growth, and developing marketing strategies and plans. My family is totally aloof from this idea as I was the first one in my family to start this. However, with time, my family also got involved in it to some extent. ‘Actually I never told anyone that I am working online. The first person I told was my mom. When I told her that have I earned 5k dollars in a week, she initially thought that I was obtaining through some illegal activity. Gradually, she started showing happiness at my success and supported me a lot from then onwards. The same goes with my father who also tried to support me as much as he could. My family is very supportive and they are still giving me every possible thing which I need. I owe my success to them’ How do you manage time between studies and marketing? Is your subject related to what you are professionally? I am in my final years of A Levels and yes, my subjects are also related to marketing. They really helped me a lot, as marketing was always one of my favourite subjects to study which aided me in developing more interest in the field. Being so young, did you ever come across someone in the office premises who treated you ignorantly first and later on realized your talent and importance? Np! Actually I never told anyone that I am working online. The first person I told was my mom. When I told her that have I earned 5k dollars in a week, she initially thought that I was obtaining through some illegal activity. Gradually, she started showing happiness at my success and supported me a lot from then onwards. The same goes with my father who also tried to support me as much as he could. My family is very supportive and they are still giving me every possible thing which I need. I owe my success to them. From the amazing work that you are doing, it seems that you have been working extremely hard since childhood. Were you one of those kids who would work while their peers would play and have fun? Yes, it’s true that I have been working very hard. I have some sleepless nights as well. I have lost a lot of money as well at times but in business, if you don’t take risk, you won’t be rewarded. It won’t be wrong to say that the higher the risk, the bigger the reward. Being a teenager yourself, how do you spend most of the money that you earn? I invest most of the money into next business projects. If you don’t invest, you will be stuck with the money and money is something that doesn’t last forever. So, the more you invest, the more chances are there that your business will be successful. What message would you like to give to your age fellows who have similar dreams but are still struggling? Never give up on your dreams. And having dreams does not imply that walking away from a dream is the same as being a quitter. Sometimes, you have to let go of one dream to make room for new dreams. Also, you should always pursue your passion while choosing a career. This message might sound silly as most of the teenagers are passionate about social media and pizza—at least in this phase of their lives. Few teens know what their true passions are, or even what’s out there to be passionate about. Just think positively, and you can achieve anything you want in life. While this sounds like an inspiring message on the surface, this idea can be harmful. The reality is, everyone has limitations. So if your teen has a serious health problem, he may not be able to become a Navy Seal. Or, if he lacks musical talent, he may never land a major record deal. Telling him he can do anything he wants implies hard work will help him accomplish anything—no matter how unrealistic or idealistic his goals may be. But the truth is, no matter how much effort he puts in, there are certain things he may never achieve. If he never catches a big break in life, it’s insulting to say it’s because he didn’t want it enough. A Better Message – “Hard work will take you far in life, but everyone has limitations. Focus on what you can control and accept what’s out of your control.” The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at m.ali_aquarius85@yahoo.com. He Tweets at @MuhammadAli_DT